Kiwiana – “big” things to see in New Zealand.
While I was researching information for my previous blog it dawned on me that we as a country do seem to honour our Kiwiana and things which make us kiwis’ by making “big things” to pay them homage.
New Zealand may be a small country but we compensate with a whole bunch of very BIG things!
New Zealand is about 2.5 times smaller than the state of Texas (USA) alone, however, our huge volcanoes, mountain chains and love for the outdoors inspires us to create big things. Huge things even! If it was ever on your bucket list to see a giant trout or even a humongous soda bottle, then New Zealand is the place to do it. Artists have created enormous sculptures all around the country to promote movies or a local beverage to attract tourists or simply for the love of art. Here are just a few of them to give you an idea of what I mean.
GIANT CRAYFISH
The Lobster Inn in Kaikoura is home to the world famous giant lobster or Crayfish as we here in New Zealand call it, over six metres in length and built using steel mesh, papier Mache and fibre glass in 1994. The Crayfish reached New Zealand Icon status in 1998, featuring on a New Zealand post stamp issue celebrating town icons.
Few places in the world can boast of such natural wonders as those offered by land and sea in Kaikoura. The seaside settlement is the most northern district in the Canterbury region located on the east coast of the South Island (an ideal location for both north and south bound travellers).
Famous for its marine mammal encounters and whale and dolphin watching, it’s also one of the best places in New Zealand to sample crayfish. Kaikoura in the Maori language signifies ‘kai’ food and ‘koura’ crayfish
In 2011 the crayfish received a makeover to show support for our national rugby team the All Blacks during their Rugby World Cup campaign.
The Final of this campaign was a match between France and New Zealand, to determine the overall winner. The match took place on 23 October 2011 at Eden Park, in Auckland, New Zealand. New Zealand won the match 8–7, the slimmest margin by which any Rugby World Cup final had ever been decided.
So I am sure that the support shown by the Giant Crayfish would have had an impact!!
